Sequel to My Protector - Updates are ongoing but SLOW; aiming for once a month.
Loren is one of the best trauma surgeons in Manhattan. Killian is one of the most dangerous men in the world. They cross paths for the first time in ten years, and it's...
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The following morning I rolled over in bed to the sound of our alarms. The sun shone through the window as earth's natural way of telling us to get up. I rubbed my eyes as I sat up in bed. I had spent the night tossing and turning in bed despite how sleep deprived I was. Emma yawned just a few feet away from me, she hadn't slept well either.
"Time to get to work" She mumbled sleepily as we left our room to find Annette.
We walked into the kitchen where we found Arthur speaking with an older woman. The moment he saw us his eyes lit up. "Amber, Alexandra! There you are. Annette was just looking for you." Arthur cheekily grinned before turning to us. "She doesn't speak English, and obviously you don't speak Swedish so I'll be interpreting!"
Annette's face was ordinary and tired. She had seen so many young women come and go in this house, she didn't bat an eye at us as we stood in front of her.
"Arthur, I don't suppose to gave these ladies a uniform?" She glared her blue eyes at Arthur whose eyes widened in response.
Emma and I looked at Arthur waiting for him to translate as if we had no idea what she had said.
"She's asking about uniforms" Arthur chuckled nervously before telling her that he had forgotten but will get them for us tomorrow.
Annette observed our clothes and hair before nodding ever so slightly and motioning for us to follow.
We followed behind as she gave us a tour of the castle, as if we had not already seen everything.
"This is Peter's office and library. We do not go in here under any circumstances. Understood?" Annette waited for us to nod our heads after Arthur translated.
"And this is Peter's bedroom. This is also off limits. The entire north wing is essentially off limits. And don't bother to go poking your noses around in places they do not belong. I'm going to tell you this now, Peter is not interested, no matter how beautiful you are."
Emma and I nodded our heads again. Towards the end of the tour Annette handed us some towels and told us to bring it up to the showers. 'duscharna' as she said.
"Duscharna" I repeated with a terrible accent and left to bring the towels upstairs.
On our way to the showers we passed multiple of the 'big burley doofuses' as Arthur had put it. Each of them staring at us the way a starved lion stared at a piece of meat.
"I'm not sure if everybody keeps eyeballing us because of the obnoxious amount of fillers in our cheeks and lips, or because they actually find us attractive" Emma muttered from behind the pile of cotton.
As we approached the shower room, the door swung open, releasing the pent up steam. Without a word the man who walked out grabbed a towel from the top of my pile and ran it through his hair before tossing it back to me.
I held back a scoff as he walked away without another word.
"Asshole" Emma muttered. We were lucky these people didn't understand english.
Once the towels were put away, we returned to the laundry room where Annette was now ironing tablecloths. She looked up and immediately handed us a bucket of microfiber clothes and lemon scented wood oil.
"Peter is throwing a party here in a few days. We need to make sure it is absolutely spotless." Arthur informed us.
"Party? What for?" I smiled suggestively.
"Alla Hjärtans Dag" He grinned "Valentines day to you Canadians"
"Oh how exciting! I love valentines day" Emma squealed and Annette's head shot up from the ironing board. "Sorry, we'll get to cleaning" She grabbed the bucket and shuffled out of the room with me following closely behind.
"Annette wants you to start here in the dining room. Just polish everything you see thats wooden, and oil the leathers."
"You got it" I nodded and started on the large dining table. Large old oil paintings hung around the room. A fireplace lined one wall and a large gold mirror hung above it. Two ornate chandeliers hung from the ceiling and cold centerpieces already sat atop the tables.
There was something therapeutic about cleaning and leaving a place better than you had found it. Even if that place was that of the man who had kidnapped the love of your life.
I made my way around each chair that sat around the dining table as Emma worked on the displays closer to the wall. We silently cleaned as our minds raced. For all we knew, Killian and Adam could be locked up just beneath us.
An hour later we were finishing up and Arthur had returned to check on us.
"Beautiful! Everything in here is twinkling. I can't see any reason for Annette to be dissatisfied."
As if right on cue, Annette walked in and stared blankly at our work. She nodded once before returning back through the door she came from. I couldn't help but feel slightly happy that she didn't seem entirely unhappy with us.
"Ok next is the hallway. There are a few tables in there and picture frames that need dusting."
Emma grabbed the duster that he held out and we walked out into the empty hallway.
I stared at the old photo of who I assumed was Peter's ancestors as I polished the dusty wood.
"This has to be an old castle right? Do you think they have dungeons or anything?" I asked as Emma came up, wiping the duster over the old mans face. She opened her mouth to reply but the voice that made its way to my ears was anything but hers.
"Do something naughty and you may find out."
Emma's mouth shut and her shoulders tensed as our heads shot to the direction of the handsome voice. We turned just as Peter passed us in the hall, only turning to offer us a cheeky smile.
I felt my face warm once again and looked as Emma, whose face reflected entirely how I felt. Both of us were at a loss for words. By the time we finally muttered an apology, Peter was already out of earshot.
I watched as he continued to walk away from us, his broad shoulders becoming smaller and smaller. His hair was a dark brown which was very different from the other nordic men that we had been running into. His skin was tanned, also the opposite of everyone else. I pried my eyes from his figure before I could get caught staring at him.
There was something about Peter. A certain playfulness that I hadn't expected. He didn't seem to be the type of man to kidnap or even Kill. But then again, I had thought the same about Killian when I first met him.
That was it.
Dare I say it... he reminded me of Killian.
***
Two updates for you all. :)
I just got home from a two week vacation where my best friend got engaged! It was so exciting and romantic, we were all on a sailboat at sunset.
I take my big test in a month and then start applications to school, so if I continue to be AWOL until then, you know why.
